The $55 billion buyout of EA—the largest leveraged buyout in private equity history—has plunged the future of the corporation into uncertainty. It's gotta find some way to deal with the $20 billion of debt its buyers have lumbered it with, and some fear that its new owners—featuring Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners—might put the kibosh on diversity and representation in games like The Sims (which would, per one of the series' original leads, be something of a death knell for it).
Well, EA is trying to allay some of those fears (via Polygon). In a new FAQ for employees from October 30, the company promised that it was still "in a strong financial position" despite the small matter of $20 billion in debt and that it will "maintain creative control" over its projects even in its new era of private ownership. It also promises to maintain "a thoughtful, steady approach to AI," after stories circulated about the new owners planning to make heavy use of the tech. What does that mean in practice? Your guess is as good as mine.
"The Consortium believes in our vision," says EA, referring to its new owners, "our leadership and the strength of our teams. They are investing in EA because they believe we are uniquely positioned to lead the future of entertainment." The FAQ also points out that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has "been a significant stockholder in EA, and the broader gaming industry, for many years" already.
I suspect the FAQ is probably right when it suggests, in kinder language, that EA's new owners care first and foremost about making money regardless of how reactionary their personal politics are, and if they can make bank selling queerness and female leads, well, they'll probably do that. I suspect most people nervous about what this buyout means for EA won't find that particularly calming, though (I sure don't). Greed is a much poorer foundation than solidarity for building equality.
The language EA uses in this FAQ also seems noteworthy. Elaborating on how it will continue to maintain "creative control," the studio says, "We will continue to be guided by our cultural values of creativity, pioneering, passion, determination, learning, and teamwork."
Canny readers will note none of that really means much beyond 'we will keep trying to be good at making games and not bad at it.' These "cultural values" don't have much cultural content; notably absent from the list are more straightforwardly meaningful, and political, terms like diversity, LGBT rights, progressivism, or equity.
Does that mean EA is gearing up to turn The Sims into an aggressively right-wing franchise? Of course not, but it does lead me to question whether, if a diverse and representative Sims stops making quite so much money, would EA go to bat to ensure it keeps those qualities?
The proof will be in the pudding, I suppose. Which is to say that we'll only know what the future holds for EA and its fans when the future actually gets here. EA expects the buyout to wrap up "in the next six to nine months."
